It is commonly known to provide pulley arrangements and/or devices such as capstans to help users in manually hoisting heavy loads. The pulleys and devices such as the capstans reduce the load at the user end, whereby the user can manually hoist the load with the weight of the load being substantially reduced at the user end.
Brake systems or lock systems have been created in the event that the user wants to release the hoisting rope (or cable, etc) while the load is lifted in the air. The existing brake systems are applied when the tension in the hoisting rope is released, for instance by the user letting go of the hoisting rope.
In order to lower the load, such existing brake systems typically require additional manipulations by the user, for instance, by way of a secondary rope that must be manipulated by the user to release the brake while hoisting the load with the other hand. However, this type of system is accident-prone in that the user may perform inadequate maneuvers in emergency situations, and drop the load. Moreover, with such systems, the user must typically have one hand on the hoisting rope, and another on the secondary rope, and this is not ideal for releasing gradually the hoisting rope when lowering a load.